The Un-lucky Bracelet
by Squeaky
Summary: Will Marcia find the Lucky Bracelet given to her by her boyfriend?


The Brady Bunch ( Season '69) The Unlucky Bracelet 

Having finished with all her homework, Marcia was ready for dinner. Inside her room she could smell the spaghetti sauce and almost taste the garlic bread. She couldn't be happier. At school, Larry Newman, a boy from math class, had given her a lucky bracelet. He said it would make sure that she got good grades on her tests. Of course, Marcia did not need a lucky bracelet for such thing; she was an excellent student. But she liked Larry a lot she accepted the gift. 

The spicy sauce's smell was more intense now and Marcia wanted to get a good glance of her gift before Alice called them for dinner. She hurried to the jewelry box and opened it. It was gone! 

"Oh, no," she cried. "This can't be!" 

She looked everywhere in her room for her precious gift: the drawers, under the beds and even under the pillows, but there was no sign of it. Cindy walked in the room and asked Marcia what was wrong. Marcia replied she was looking for her bracelet. 

"The pink and yellow one with an 'L' on it?" 

"That's the one, Cindy. Have you seen it?" 

"No. Hey what does the 'L' stand for?" 

" It stands for 'losing' it." 

Suddenly they heard Alice call for them. Marcia wasn't as hungry as before. Cindy rushed downstairs. Marcia, depressed slowly walked downstairs. She sat and her mother immediately knew something was wrong. 

"Marcia, honey, is everything all right?" 

"Yes, mother," said Marcia never taking her eyes from her plate. 

"Now, Marcia, you know you can tell us anything," said Mike. 

"Dad," Marcia began. "what would you do if someone you really like gave you something you both think is really special and the you lose it?" 

"Well, Marcia-" 

"My book bag!" interrupted Marcia. "It must be inside my book bag. It must have slipped from my wrist while I put my books there after I finished doing my homework." 

Her eyes sparkled and she wore a big smile. 

"Marcia," said Jan. "I didn't see you wearing any bracelet on the way home from school." 

Both, Marcia's sparkle in her eyes and her smile, vanished completely from her face and she once again looked down at her plate. 

"Then it's gone. I lost my lucky bracelet." 

"I guess the lucky bracelet wasn't so lucky after all," said Bobby giggling. 

"Bobby..." said Mike in a threatening tone. 

"This is just awful," said Marcia. " When Larry sees I'm not wearing the bracelet he'll think I threw it away." 

"What are you going to do, Marcia?" asked Cindy as she tried to eat her spaghetti, but it kept falling off her fork. 

" I don't know. But what I do know is that I won't let him know I lost it. I'll hide my wrist in my pockets." 

"How will you shake his hand?" asked Cindy. 

"Honey, the best thing to do is tell him the truth. I'm sure he will believe you," said Carol. 

"OK, mom. I'll tell him tomorrow." 

"But make sure you tell him before Susan Hansen does," said Jan. 

"Who's Susan Hansen?" asked Carol. 

"She's the school gossip. She finds out everything before anybody else does," replied Jan. 

"Oh, boy, if she finds out you are in big trouble. She always tells gossip the way she wants it," said Peter. 

The next day at school, Marcia walked with Jan at lunch period when they saw a group of girls in a circle. "Another one of Susan Hansen's gossips I'm sure' thought Marcia. She immediately looked at Jan and as if reading each other's minds they said in unison : "The bracelet!" 

They ran to the group of girls and there she was: Susan Hansen with the pink and yellow bracelet swinging on her index finger. 

"...then I saw Marcia throwing this small colorful object away and as I picked it up I noticed what a beautiful bracelet it was. What a mean person this Marcia Brady is! I would never throw away a gift from Larry Newman." 

Marcia couldn't stand the lying anymore and without wasting any second she burst into a fit of rage. 

"That is the last of it Susan Hansen! No more lies!" 

All the girls turned around only to see the figure of Marcia Brady running and then standing face-to-face with the school biggest gossip. Jan couldn't believe what her older sister was getting into. Marcia Brady, the sweet angel-face girl, would actually fight? 

Marcia was still yelling at Susan and of course Susan was still yelling at her. 

"You threw it away, Brady. I saw you!" 

"I did not! You took it, you thief!" 

The bell rang and the confrontation was over. 

That same afternoon, after Marcia had come home from school and told the whole story to her parents Mike decided they should have a talk with Susan's parents. They decided to call them. Of course no child is born with a bad attitude: he or she learns it somewhere. Susan learned it from her parents. 

The call turned out to be completely useless: Susan's parents avoided the subject completely and also managed to say how much they didn't like the color of the Brady house at the same time. Immediately after Mike hung up Marcia burst into tears and said she would never have her bracelet back and that Larry would hate her. She ran to her room, jumped on her bed and hid her face in her pillow. 

Downstairs, Mike and Carol decided it would be best if Carol talked to their daughter. Besides moms know better than dads when it comes to a girls first 'romance'. 

Carol entered the girls' room. Marcia had calmed down a little. 

"Mom, Larry is going to hate me..." 

"Now Marcia," said Carol as she sat on the bed besides Marcia. "I know you are upset but have you spoken to Larry about this?" 

"No" 

"Then how does he know you didn't lose the bracelet on purpose?" 

"He doesn't." 

"Well, does he know you actually lost it?" 

" He must know. Susan was-" 

"He must now? You are not even sure if he knows you lost his gift in the first place and your sitting here crying your eyes out! Marcia, I suggest you talk Larry as soon as possible and explain this whole thing before that girl has things they way she wants them to be." 

Marcia understood completely her mother's message. She just could jump to a conclusion and expect her troubles to be over with sitting and crying. She had to take action. 

Next day at school, the first thing she did was talk to Larry. Surprisingly for Marcia, although Larry knew marcia had lost his gift, he never believed a word Susan had said. 

"I heard her gossip with her friends about how you threw away the bracelet, but I knew she was just making up one of her stories. My little brother Jimmy saw Susan take the bracelet from you wrist." 

"So that's why she had shaken my hand that day: to take my bracelet. I knew she was up to something. We never even say 'hi'. 

"By the way, your sister Jan told me you were a little upset about losing my gift, but I just want you to know that I will never think anything bad about you and that I will never let anyone try to hurt you again and that I..I..I really really really like you Marcia Brady." 

"I...really really really like you Larry Newman." 

The held each other's hands and began walking and laughing. They didn't know that, behind the bushes, Susan had been spying on them. 

She said to herself: "You have won this battle Marcia, but the war is far from over." 

She took the bracelet and swung it on her index finger, but it fell on the ground...only to be taken away by Jan. She had been spying on the spy! 

"I think this belongs to my sister, Miss Hansen. By the way, remember that in this war Marcia is not fighting alone and Jan Brady is not someone you want to mess with. Bye-bye." 

Susan said nothing and angrily walked away and murmuring several 'I'd never's. Jan ran to her sister and handed her her precious pink and yellow bracelet and the three friends walked around the schoolyard laughing at the school biggest gossip. 

The End 


End file.
